Florida Atlantic baseball coach John McCormack considers it a good problem to have.

He figures his toughest job this season will be figuring out a way to find playing time for all his pitchers. While it’s going to take some creativity, having too many beats the alternative. The Owls open the season Friday at home against George Washington. Other key early games include at Florida Feb. 20, and they play host to Miami on Feb. 28. Conference USA play begins at Old Dominion on March 16.

“I think this is probably the deepest staff we’ve ever had,” McCormack said. “It’s going to be hard to get everybody innings.”

The abundance of depth begins with senior Jake Miednik, who will start the opener. Miednik was a preseason first-team All-Conference USA selection. He is joined in the rotation by Kyle Marman, Zach Schneider and Vince Coletti.

Marman has mostly been a reliever the past two seasons, while Coletti is a newcomer. Last year, Coletti was 5-0 at Palm Beach State College before transferring. Sophomore Nick Prather, junior Blake Sanderson and senior Mark Nowatnick will also figure into the mix.

“We have 12 guys who have pitched in Division I baseball games, which is unheard of,” McCormack said. “Everybody who has done the bulk of the pitching here has been successful. Now, they are a year older and a year stronger.”

With the pitching staff set, McCormack used most of the preseason to determine how he will replace an infield that lost three starters to graduation. Gunnar Lambert, who was a catcher two seasons ago, will play first base while Eric Rivera moves to second base after playing left field last year.

“We feel good about [Montes],” McCormack said. “He’s basically a clone of Langham.”

They should provide solid support for junior shortstop Tyler Frank. He returns as the team’s marquee player after leading the Owls in nearly every hitting category. He is on the preseason watch list for the Golden Spikes Award, given to the nation’s best player.

What has impressed McCormack the most is how Frank has handled the extra attention.

“He does a really good job with it,” McCormack said. “He doesn’t let it intrude on his teammates.”

The additions of Montes, Schneider and centerfielder Cody Wilson have McCormack thinking this team will avoid a repeat of last year’s disappointing finish. Despite winning 35 games, the Owls missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014.

The Owls felt their resume was strong enough to make it. They finished third in the conference and were also ranked 55th in the final Ratings Percentage Index. Conference USA had sent four and three teams to the tournament the previous two seasons, but only Southern Miss and Rice were chosen last year.

“I thought we had done enough, especially down the stretch and what we had done in the conference tournament,” McCormack said. “You’d think you’d get in when playing in a good league. We came up a little bit short. Thirty-five wins wasn’t good enough. We’ve got to do better.”